Lock for fire-arms



(NoModel.) A 2sneetssheet-1- A. E. WHITMORE.

LOCK POR FIRE ARMS.

l\T0.266,2L1:5. Patented Oct. 17, 1882.

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(No Model.) Y 2 Sheets-Sheet 2. A. E. WHITMORB.

1.00K Fon PIRE ARMS. No. 266,245. Patented Oct. 17, 1882.

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Unteren States ,Fa'reivr @trice ANDREYV E. IVHITMORE, OF SPRINGFIELD, l\'IASSACEIUSETTS.

LOCK FOR FIRE-ARMS.

SPECIFICATION forming' part of Letters Patent No. 266,245, dated October 17, 1882,

Application filed March 2T, 15182.

To all whom it ymay concern:

Beit known that I, ANDREW E. WHITMORE, of Springfield, countyofHampden, in the Gommonwealth of Massachusetts, have made ecrtain new and useful Improvements in Breech- Loading Fire-Arms; and I do hereby declare that the following specification, taken in connection with the drawings making a part of the same, is a full, clear,and exact description thereof.

Figure l is a longitudinal vertical section, showing the mechanism for cockingand tiring the piece, exl elling the shell,and regulating the tip ofthe barrels, and the position ot' the parts alter a discharge. Fig. l is a side eleration of a portion of thehammer with myimproved slotted stirrup attached. Fig. 2 is a view ofthe same, showing the barrels tipped and the position oi thelockmechanism previous to discharge. Fig. 3 shows the locking-bolt and device 'for withdrawing the same and the manner ot' cooking the piece. Fig. et, Sheet 2, is a top view ofthe breech and tang. Fig. 5, Sheet 2, is a cross-section ot tang, stock, and lock mechanism on line x x of Figs. l and et.

My improvements are more especially designed to be used in the construction ot' doublebarreled breakdown guns,in connection with which I shall describe them, although they may be used in the manufacture of single-barreled guns,ifdesired. lheyY relate to whatis known as a hammerless i grimaud consistin the construction ofthe frame or body part, and the construction and arrangement of the 1nechanism for cooking, locking, indicating the position of the hammers, tiring the piece, and regulating the tip ofthe barrels.

In the drawings, A is the frame, constructed with a web, A', which projects downward from the tang A2, and to which are attached the small parts of the locking mechanism B, the barrels; C, the hammers,each of which is provided with a pin, c, which passes through a slot, x, formed in the stirrup X, and also with an inclined lower face, c, with which the front end-of the sear K engages, fora purpose hereinafter described; D l), the triggers; E, the cartridge-extractor; F, the 1ocking-bolt working in horizontal grooves and engaging lugs G G upon the under side of. the barrels. His a thumb-lever for withdrawing the bolt F. I is a lever for operatingtheextractor, and

(No model.)

is constructed with two arms at an angle to each other ot' about one hundred and thirty degrees. J is the mainspring, formed in two parts, the lower of which rests upon the forward partof the senr K, while the upper part is formed with a curved end,j, which rests against the under side of the T end w of stirrup X; K, a scar; L, a locking-lever, with a spring, a, to govern its forward and backward motion, M, a lever operating the locking-lever L and indicator N; and X, a slotted stirrup, formed with a slot, a', at its lower portion, through which the pin c of the hammer C passes,and an upper T-shapcd end, or', beneath which the curved end j ot' spring J engages.

ln a double gun there would be duplicate hammers, triggers, sears, mainsprings, indicator-levers, and indicators, and a single locking-lever, while in a single gun there would be but one of each ofthe parts named.

Instead of attaching the various parts or any of them composing the lockingmechanism to a lock-plate, I attach them to the web A', which is secured to or made a part of the tang and lock-frame ofthe `gun. The advantage ot' this construction is that the lock-plates are entirely dispensed ith and the stock rendered capable ci' heilig disconnected by the removal of a single screw, thus leaving the lock mechanism entirely exposed, to be examined, oiled, or repaiied.

Gommencing with the parts in the position shown in Fig. 1, the piece justhaving been discharged, and the hammers rebounded to half-cock notch, the operation of my invention is as follows: I move thc thumb-lever H laterally by the pressure of the thumb upon the rear end of the same, which overcomes theresistance ot' thc spring b and turns the huh O, to which the said lever H is attached. AThe rotation of the hub O withdraws the slotted locking-bolt F through the intervention of the link P, which connects the two, and allows the barrels to tip, as shown in Fig. 2. The locking-bolt F is provided upon either side with lugs or arms Q, which, as the bolt begins to recede, come iii contact with the hammers U and ,carry them back to a full-cock, as shown in Fig. 2. The hammers C do not come in contact with the triggers D D, but are opera-ted through the medium of a scar, K, which is IOO held in place by the pressure ot' the double spring J. As the hammers C are about completing their backward movement they come in contact with a pin, R, upon one arm of the lever M. The lever M is provided with a long and short arm nearly at right angles with each I other, and is attached by a pivot, on which it swings, to the web A. Vhen the backward movement of the hammers C has been suflciently completed to reach the full-cock. notch the horizontal arm of the lever M will have projected the indicator N and become sufliciently elevatedto come in contact with the pin S upon the lever L, and as the pressure is still continued upon the top lever, H, and the hammers carried beyond the full-cock notchsay one or two hundredths of an inchthe pin S is raised and thelever L caused to swing and lock the sear K, as shown in Fig. 2. The pressure being removed from the lever H, the hammers will settle back to the full-cock notch, and the pressure of the horizontal arm of the lever M upon the pin S will be removed, so as to break the dead-lock of the parts.

It will now be readily seen that any pressure exerted upon the triggers must fail to dis charge the piece, for the reason that the sear K is held in a xed position by the lockinglever L and cannot be moved to disengage the hammer.

To insure the swing of the lever L and the locking of the sear K, the lug G of the barrel is made with a cam-shaped end, Y, which, during the upward movement of the barrel, cornes in contact with and presses back the bolt F, carrying the hammers beyond the fullcock notch, with the same effect upon the lockin g-lever L, before described, as resulting from the continued movement of the top lever, H. As the barrels are thrown up, as shown in Fig. 2, to receive a new cartridge, the upper arm of the lever I moves backward the rodT, to which vthe extractor E is attached.and throws out the old shell. The other arm ofthe lever I is caught beneath the forward end of the locking-bolt F, and forms a joint-check, and defines the upward movement or tip of the barrels. A new cartridge having been inserted,the barrels are brought back to the position shown in Fig. 1. The. locking-bolt F, through the action ofthe spring b, engages the lugs GG" and holds the barrels securely iu place. A portion of the indicator N (shown above the exterior surface of thevframe) denotes that the piece is at a fullcoek, and that the locking-lever L is in position as shown in Fig.2,and that the discharge of the piece from any accidental pressure upon the triggers is impossible.

When it is desired to discharge the piece the lower end of the locking-lever L is swung backward out of contact with the sear K by a forward thrustof the thumb or finger upon the upper end thereof', which projects a sufficient distance to admit ofsuch manipulation. The lockingdever L having been thus removed from its contact with the sear K,the1atter becomes capable of responding to the pressure upon the triggers l), which raseit at its rear and depress it at the other end and release the hammer. The hammer, being released, is thrown forward by the spring J until it reaches the half-cock notch, when the stirrup X,which is provided with a slot within which a pin upon the hammer C works,cotnesincontactwith the under part of the bolt F and arrests the further action of the spring upon the hammer, which, through its acquired momentum, completes its stroke and brings the firing-piu ain contact with and explodes the cartridge. At the completion of the stroke, as described,lhe end of the sear K will rest upon the inclined surface upon the lower part of the hammer, and by means of the pressure exerted by the double mainspiing J will force the hammer back to the haltcock notch, such rebounding being due in the rst instance to the arrest of the stirrup in its upward movement by coining in contact with the locking-bolt F. The forward movement of the hammer disengages the lever M and permits the horizontal arm thereof to become depressed, which drops the indicator N and releases the locking-lever L,

as shown in Fig. l. The lockingbolt F is now again withdrawn, the barrels tipped, and the operation described repeated.

Vhat I claim as my invention,and desiret secure by Letters Patent, is-

In a breech-loading tire-arm, the hammer C., I -sha-ped lever M, with its pin It and indicator N,'and the pivoted thumb-lever L, with its pin S, in combination with thesear K, springJ, and trigger D, substantially as herein set forth.

A. E. VVHITMORE.

\Vitnesses:

WVM/ren B. VINCENT, JOHN J. UoL'roN.

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